Did you watch 60 Minutes last night? Well, neither did I. Turns out, it was a good one. And not because of the Lady Gaga segment. Here's what we missed--the important part, I mean. The uplifting part. From CBS News:
"Wael Ghonim and Egypt's New Age Revolution", 60 Minutes, February 13, 2011http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7346812n

Harry Smith (interviewer): "If there's no social network, does this revolution happen?"
Wael Ghonim: "If there was no social networks, it would have never been sparked. Because the whole thing before the revolution was the most critical thing. Without Facebook, without Twitter, without Google, without YouTube, this would have never happened."

It's not just one technology company that's involved, it's ALL of them. It's a new world.

Smith: "But isn't just the opposite then true? If I want to continue to suppress people, the last thing I'm gonna give them is access to the internet."
Ghonim: "Block the whole internet, you're gonna really frustrate people."

Ghonim also made a great point about Egypt blocking the internet at one point, something I believed before I heard this interview. Once the revolution gets started, it can't be stopped by pulling the plug on the internet.
Ghonim: "One of the strategic mistakes of this regime was blocking Facebook. One of the reasons why they are no longer in power now is that they blocked Facebook. Why? Because they have told four million people that they are scared like hell from the revolution by blocking Facebook. They forced everyone who's just, you know, waiting to read the news on Facebook, they forced them to go to the street to be part of this. So really, like, if I want to thank one, thank anyone for all of this, I would thank our stupid regime."

It is somewhat fitting that I do this post on Valentine's Day, a day of love. Notice that Ghonim forgave his captors, even kissing them all when he was released. He is a better man than I am.
Smith: "Did they hit you?"
Ghonim: "Yeah, but it was not systematic. Like, it was individual based, and it was not from the officers. It was actually from the soldiers. And I forgive them, I have to say. I forgive them, because one thing is that they were convinced that I was harming the country. These are simple people, not educated. I cannot carry a conversation with them. So, you know, for him, I'm sort of like a traitor. I'm de-stabilizing the country. So when he hits me, he doesn't hit me because, you know, he's a bad guy. He's hitting me because he thinks he's a good guy. I'll tell you a funny story: At the end of the last day, you know, I removed my...blindfold. And I said, 'Hi,' and kissed every one of them. All of the soldiers. And, you know, it was good. I was sending them a message."

I also like this part of his message.
Smith: "President Obama came out several times during the revolution, had things to say. Did it help? Did it hurt?"
Ghonim: "You know, it was good that he supports the revolution. That's a good stand. But we don't really need him. And I don't think that....I wrote a tweet. I wrote, 'Dear Western governments. You have been supporting the regime that was oppressing us for 30 years. Please don't get involved now. We don't need you.'"
Amen to that!

This article explores Ghonim's relationship with Google as these events unfolded. For Ghonim his passion for Egypt was more important than his job--as it should be.

"Wael Ghonim, the Google product manager who helped pull together the popular demonstrations that forced Hosni Mubarak to step down as Egypt's president, is the hero of the hour. But not everywhere. For many in Silicon Valley, he's their worst nightmare.

"On the record, Google's not talking about Ghonim or the question of employee activism. For his part, Ghonim told CBS's Katie Couric in an interview on Friday that his participation in the protests had no connection with his employer.
'They did not know anything about this and actually when I took the time off and I went to Cairo, they did not know I was going to the protest,' he said. 'But when everything became public, I talked with the company and they suggested that I take a leave of absence and I also suggested that to them and I think it was a good decision for that. Google has nothing to do with this.'"

"Asked whether he planned to return to the office, Ghonim said that he'd be honored to return to Google 'if I'm not fired.'

"Maybe that was meant as a tongue-in-cheek comment. But there's a larger truth behind his quip. The key role played by one of Google's key executives in the Middle East revived a decades-old dilemma that many other technology companies face when it comes to the question of political activism: Where should they draw the line?

"'It's one of those things that companies don't want to touch with a ten foot pole,' a tech public relations exec told me on background.

"The obvious truth du jour is that tech companies don't want to take political positions - even when regimes use their products to oppress their own people."

"'We hire incredibly passionate people,' a [Google] spokesperson said. 'Their values are the values of the web: access to information, freedom of communication, the power of people and democracy and we’re always incredibly proud to see Googlers take a stand on those issues.'

"Google’s new stance follows an outpouring of support among its own employees for Mr Ghonim and reflects a belief that its standing among younger internet users in particular will be boosted by his activism.

"Recent research in the US by JD Power, for instance, showed that people at an early stage in their career were drawn to brands that stand for strong values far more than those merely seen as 'trendy'."

On the other hand...

"While Google’s services are likely to be more popular in the Egypt, the company could suffer in other parts of the Middle East at a time when it has put a high priority on expanding there, said Mr Morozov. He added that political activists may baulk at seeing the internet companies try to take the credit, since some of their practices, like Facebook’s refusal to allow users to hide their identity behind pseudonyms, have made it harder for activists to operate, he added.

"Besides the immediate brand benefits, a person close to one of the US internet companies predicted that the recent events would greatly aid with hiring at a time when Silicon Valley companies are fighting over top talent, since engineers would be drawn to companies that are credited with changing the world.

"Another person said that giving overt backing to the protesters at an earlier stage might have hurt their cause, since it would have made it easier for the Egyptian authorities to claim the uprising had been fomented by US interests."

I love it when my independent music feeds uncover a great artist I hadn't heard of. In this case the band is Early Winters, fronted by British singer Carina Round.

Unfortunately I didn't find an online version of the song performed by Early Winters. But here is a live version performed by Carina Round.
"Carina Round [Early Winters Side Project] - Spanish Burn"http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ArVIP2cJv3Q

Sunday, February 13, 2011

Okay, here is a fun fact for you. Did you know that the voices of cartoon dogs Astro and Scooby Doo were done by the same guy? Yes, Don Messick did them both! I never realized that, although I don't find it surprising. Now that I think of it, they do sound a lot alike.